As the first week of December 2025 arrives, the annual anticipation for ski season is colliding with a unique blend of excitement, anxiety, and uncertainty across North America’s mountain towns. While the Epic Pass—a coveted ticket to some of the world’s best ski resorts—promises unlimited winter adventure for those quick enough to snag it before the December 4 deadline, the broader ski industry is grappling with unpredictable weather, shifting travel trends, and the fallout from international politics.
For many snow lovers, the Epic Pass has become synonymous with winter happiness. According to the New York Post, this all-access pass opens the doors to iconic destinations like Whistler Blackcomb, Park City Mountain, Vail Mountain, Breckenridge, and dozens more across the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia. It’s a golden ticket for anyone hoping to swap city slush for powdery slopes and panoramic mountain views. With perks like Ski-With-A-Friend discounts and 20% off food, lodging, rentals, and lessons at participating resorts, the value is hard to beat—particularly when a single-day lift ticket at a major mountain can cost more than triple a week’s worth of groceries.
But as the New York Post points out, the clock is ticking: the Epic Pass sale ends on December 4, 2025, with no extensions or exceptions. For those dreaming of carving down Vail’s crisp runs or wandering through Whistler Village as snow falls, the message is clear—act now, or risk paying full price for the season’s adventures.
Yet, even as the Epic Pass dangles the promise of endless winter fun, mountain communities are facing challenges that go far beyond the cost of a lift ticket. Across the Western U.S., ski resorts have been forced to delay their traditional Thanksgiving openings due to unusually warm weather and a serious lack of snowfall. At Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana, for example, ski patrollers conducted their preseason safety training on November 19, 2025, without boots or skis—because the slopes were still brown and bare. Resort spokesman Chad Sokol summed up the mood: “Yeah, if we don’t have snow, that’s going to dictate how our season goes.”
This delay wasn’t isolated. Resorts throughout the Rockies and Pacific Northwest waited anxiously for the first real snow, which finally began to fall during the week of December 1, 2025. The anxiety is palpable, as the opening weeks can make or break a season’s fortunes. “There’s so much uncertainty—it’s hard to know what’s going to happen,” Zak Anderson, executive director of Explore Whitefish, told NPR. “The political winds seem to be shifting on an hourly basis.”
And it’s not just the weather that has resort towns on edge. The international travel landscape has changed dramatically in recent years, and 2025 is shaping up to be particularly tough for U.S. ski destinations that rely on foreign visitors. According to NPR, Whitefish Mountain Resort, just 60 miles south of the Canadian border, has historically drawn a quarter of its business from Canadian skiers. But since the imposition of steep tariffs on Canada by President Trump and a spate of negative political rhetoric, Montana state tourism officials have tracked a 25% drop in Canadian visitors. The economic impact is real: Canadian credit card spending is down 12% in Whitefish’s boutiques, restaurants, and hotels.
“We think of Canadians as our neighbors, and British Columbia and Alberta, we’re right here—we’re a border state,” Anderson explained to NPR. The frustration is evident among locals, who feel powerless in the face of national politics. “We don’t have a say in, you know, national politics,” Anderson said. For a town with fewer than 10,000 residents, the loss of Canadian guests is a big deal. “You know, for a little community like ours, the message is, we’re here—we’re open for business.”
The pain isn’t limited to Whitefish. The U.S. Travel Association projects that 5 million fewer international visitors will come to the United States in 2025, a trend that’s being felt in ski towns across the West. Amir Eylon, president and CEO of tourism market research firm Longwoods International, told NPR that their monthly surveys of Canadians show most are canceling trips to the U.S. because of political tensions and the weak Canadian dollar. “You had many Canadian travelers that were already on the fence about coming to the U.S. just from their own financial perspective and then they're going to feel insulted or hurt,” Eylon said. “It makes it much easier for them to say: 'You know what? Not this year.'”
In response, small towns that depend on tourism are rolling out the welcome mat—literally. Kalispell, Montana, near Whitefish and Glacier National Park, has launched a “Welcome Back Canada” campaign, offering 20% off hotel rooms for Canadian visitors. Mitchell Bump, general manager of the historic Kalispell Grand Hotel, told NPR, “I'm a hotel manager, so, like, not really a politician. Our job is to take care of guests and keep rooms filled year-round, especially in shoulder season, and that's really the lens I'm looking through.”
Despite these efforts, uncertainty reigns. No one knows just how many Canadians—or other international travelers—will return this season. The tariffs and rhetoric hit after some of Whitefish’s busiest weekends, so the immediate financial blow was softened, but the long-term effects remain to be seen. “So our busy periods were already behind us at that point,” Sokol noted. Christmas week, often the make-or-break period for resorts, looks promising for local bookings, but the drop in Canadian business has been buffered only by a spike in domestic tourists and a population boom in Montana since the COVID-19 pandemic. Even then, Anderson says, domestic tourists are booking at the last minute, making it difficult for businesses to plan.
Meanwhile, industry insiders are keeping a close eye on Travel Tuesday—December 2, 2025—when travelers can score deals on flights, hotels, and vacation packages. The hope is that bargain hunters, drawn by the promise of savings and the allure of fresh powder, will help fill the gap left by missing international guests. As the New York Post reports, strategic shoppers can maximize savings by timing their purchases around Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Travel Tuesday deals. For many, this is the perfect opportunity to lock in a winter getaway without breaking the bank.
As winter settles in and mountains finally open, the mood in America’s ski towns is a mix of anticipation and apprehension. The snow is falling at last, but questions linger about who will come to enjoy it—and whether the season’s promise will be fulfilled. For now, the message from the slopes is clear: the lifts are spinning, the deals are live, and everyone—locals, Canadians, and bargain hunters alike—is welcome to join the ride.
